@article{ref1,
title="Educational intervention to reduce falls and fear of falling in patients after fragility fracture: Results of a controlled pilot study",
journal="Preventive medicine",
year="2006",
author="Majumdar, Sumit R. and Wirzba, Brian J. and Holroyd, B. R. and Maksymowych, Walter P. and Hanley, David A. and Russell, Anthony S. and Steiner, Ivan P. and Johnson, J. A. and Rowe, Brian H. and Rucker, Diana and Harley, Charles H. and Morrish, Donald W.",
volume="42",
number="4",
pages="316-319",
abstract="OBJECTIVES.: Falls and fear of falling are a major health problem. We sought to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reducing fear of falling and preventing recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients after a fragility fracture. METHODS.: One hundred two community-dwelling patients aged 50 years or older who fell and sustained a wrist fracture and were treated at Emergency Departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2001-2002) were allocated to either standardized educational leaflets and post-discharge telephone counseling regarding fall prevention strategies ("intervention") or attention-controls ("controls"). Main outcomes were fear of falling and recurrent falls 3 months after fracture. RESULTS.: Mean age was 67 years and most patients were female (80%). The majority of falls (76%) leading to fracture occurred outdoors. Three months post-fracture, almost half of patients (48%) reported increased fear of falling and 11 of 102 (11%) reported falling again. The intervention did not reduce the fear of falling (43% had increased fear vs. 53% of controls, adjusted P value = 0.55) or decrease recurrent falls (17% fell vs. 5% of controls, adjusted P value = 0.059) within 3 months of fracture. CONCLUSIONS.: An educational intervention undertaken in the Emergency Department was no more effective than usual care in reducing fear of falling or recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients. Future strategies must address a number of dimensions beyond simple education.",
language="",
issn="0091-7435",
doi="10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.01.008",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.01.008"
}